M.I.S.S.I.O.N.
M.I.S.S.I.O.N. is a 2005 American computer-animated spy action comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for Universal Pictures. The fourth feature film from Gingo, the film was directed by Steve Samono and Ash Brannon from a screenplay by Michael Wildshill and Joe Stillman and a story by Samono. It features the voices of Zach Tyler Eisen, Gary LeRoi Gray, Avril Lavigne, Stanley Tucci and Wally Kurth. M.I.S.S.I.O.N. was released in the United States on July 15, 2005. This was the first Gingo film to be presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, as well as the studio's second computer-animated feature film after Computeropolis. It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $93 million worldwide from its $70 million budget; Universal was disappointed with its worldwide return, prompting Gingo to abandon plans for a sequel; it is currently the second lowest-grossing film from Gingo Animation behind The Gabriel Garza Movie. Premise On his first day at the new school Elstree Middle School, twelve-year old Louis DeMinsky is unexpectedly pulled out of his class and sent to an agency called M.I.S.S.I.O.N., where the school's former principal is now the agency's commanding officer. In the lair, Louis meets other students who were sent to said agency, such as Mort Soberman and Tiana Croson. These kids learn that an organization called S.C.H.E.M.E. is preparing a doomsday invention that will scramble the Earth, and it's up to Louis, Mort, and Tiana to shut down the invention before the whole world turns mutated. Plot Coming soon! Cast *Zach Tyler Eisen as Louis DeMinsky *Gary LeRoi Gray as Mort Soberman *Avril Lavigne as Tiana Croson *Stanley Tucci as Clariborn Holmes, commanding officer of M.I.S.S.I.O.N. and former principal of Elstree Middle School *Wally Kurth as Macksey Skee, boss of the S.C.H.E.M.E. organization *Caroline Dhavernas as Laura DeMinsky, Louis's sister. More coming soon! Additional voices were provided by Jess Harnell, Nicole Parker, John DiMaggio, Tara Strong, Keith Ferguson, Nolan North, Mickie McGowan, April Winchell, Ariel Winter, Wendy Hoffman, Jeannie Elias, John Kassir, Raquel Lee, John Cygan, Debra Wilson, and Lauren Tom Production Steve Samono, the film's director, first began working on the story for what became M.I.S.S.I.O.N. about 14 years prior to its release, then directed the film's development from 1997 to 2003. In May 1998, Universal Pictures and Gingo Animation announced the film as Agent Junior, as a traditionally animated feature scheduled for a 2002 release, which Samono described as "a James Bond-like version of the film" that revolved around an entirely different concept. In May 2000, Agent Junior was pushed back to a holiday 2004 release in order to give Samono "more time to work on the story." By June 2001, the film was retitled Operation School and it was announced that the film would be instead a computer animated feature film. In 2002, the film's title was changed once again, this time as M.I.S.S.I.O.N.. Production began in early 2003, and the release date was pushed back to summer 2005. Release Distributed by Universal Pictures, M.I.S.S.I.O.N. was released theatrically in the United States and Canada on July 15, 2005. Marketing Coinciding with the film's release, Burger King released eight toys in their Kids' Meals. A video game adaptation was released on the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and on the Nintendo DS. Home media M.I.S.S.I.O.N. was released on VHS and DVD on December 13, 2005, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray on May 15, 2007, and contained new features not included on the DVD. A 3D Blu-ray version was released on January 22, 2013. Soundtrack On July 11, 2005, the M.I.S.S.I.O.N.: Music from the Motion Picture soundtrack was released by Varèse Sarabande. Harry Gregson-Williams composed the film's score. Track listing Coming soon! Gallery Coming soon! Reception Critical response M.I.S.S.I.O.N. has a 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.5/10 based on 146 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The clever plot and outstanding humor of M.I.S.S.I.O.N. proves to be a rather outstanding contribution to Gingo's history of animation." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 76, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Box office M.I.S.S.I.O.N. earned $17,829,042 in the United States, which was below the average of other films from Gingo Animation, and $64,840,384 from international markets for a worldwide total of $93,274,922, making it Gingo's second lowest-grossing film behind 2002's The Gabriel Garza Movie. The film opened to number three in its first weekend, with $6,529,042, behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wedding Crashers. Produced on a budget of $70 million, poor box office reception resulted in a $113-million write-down for Universal Pictures. Cancelled sequel Before the film was released in theaters, Gingo originally planned for a sequel to M.I.S.S.I.O.N., tentatively titled M.I.S.S.I.O.N. #2. The film would have continued right after the first film. The sequel was canceled when M.I.S.S.I.O.N. disappointed at the box office. Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2005 Category:2000s Category:M.I.S.S.I.O.N. Category:Films directed by Steve Samono Category:Films directed by Ash Brannon Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Gingo Animation animated films